Stranded
by Lady McAubrey
Summary: When Christi gets stranded on a remote island somewhere in the Indian Ocean after a devastating ship wreck, she meets two brothers with a devastating story of their own.
1. Before The Beginning

I remember it being hot. I had looked up through my designer sunglasses to see white sand beaches and a majestic aqua blue ocean spanning out in front of me. I remember hearing Alana proclaim "This is going to be the best vacation ever!" and Katy replying in her usual apprehensive voice "We're going to be late!" And at that we were off. We climbed down the luxuriously decorated staircase to the first floor of the resort. (When I was with my friends, we never rode the elevator for fear it would get stuck or spontaneously explode, but that's my friends for you.) Just along the beach, a short distance from the hotel was a very large ship dock with an enormous cruise ship docked there ready for boarding. Fabulously decorated and surrounded by quaint little palm trees, It was just the sort of thing that would be on the cover of a travel brochure. At that moment, even though I wasn't sure, it felt that I could maybe, just possibly, be growing up. It was our senior trip after all. I would be graduating in exactly two weeks, and then I'd be a freshman…in collage! I would get my own place, and car, and have my own life to make important decisions and maybe even change the world…one day.

The ship was absolutely beautiful. I set my bags down in the cabin that Alana, Katy, and I shared. When I stepped out of the sleeping quarters area, the first deck opened out. It was bigger than mine and my neighbors yards combined with an Olympic sized pool and surfer pool. To the right of the deck was an Asian-inspired restaurant with a fire-pit right in front of the tables, so the cooks could prepare the food in full sight of the guests. I remember Brandon asking me to eat at that restaurant later that evening, I wish so badly now that I could have gotten the chance to.


	2. New Places, New Faces

It was raining so hard. All I can do is choke on sand and ocean water, but I can't move a single limb in my body. I can almost hear the missing persons report being filed right now:

Name: Christi Carlyle

Location: Unknown

Survival: Unlikely

It was an agonizing three days after the cruise ship had wrecked and sunk. I had spent those days floating alone in the ocean, just waiting for a shark to smell live meat or a wave to drag me under and not ever be able to resurface. It was then that I found the island.

I knew I had to get up. I knew that I would die if I stayed here washed up on the shore like a breached whale. I start to crawl very slowly. I look up to see palm trees swaying wildly in the wind. I see the rain pounding on the ocean, making a very loud drumming noise. Suddenly I feel a stabbing pain between my elbow and shoulder. The sand is blood- red. Before I can do or think anymore, I feel an overwhelming heaviness come over me, and I lay there, waiting for the sea to claim my body.

It was early morning. The rain had stopped sometime in the night, but I was still wet and cold. I didn't feel quite as bad anymore; the gash in my arm was not so much painful as it was numb now and, even though my legs were still extremely sore, I felt that I may be able to stand. My knees were buckling more than a toddler taking his first steps. It was then that I started thinking rationally for the first time; I needed food, water, and shelter. That sounded simple enough. I've watched survival TV shows all my life where people would live off of bugs and coconuts; things that should be crawling all over this island, literally.

I had been hiking around the island for what felt like miles and hours. All of a sudden, when my feet are just about to give up, I see a strange formation rising in front of me and I can't help but scream out loud. "A CAVE"! I squeal with delight. As I start to head into the cave I hear a strange rumbling sound followed by a furious growl. All I saw next were the eyes.

(What happened in the following events still to this day amazes me beyond anything else.) My heart is racing so fast that I can practically hear it beating out of my chest. The tiger walks slowly towards me at first. I can hear a loud bird-like screech mere feet behind me, which remind me of how buzzards swoop overhead when something has died, or is about to. I look back toward the tiger because I can now feel the ground pounding below me; the tiger is charging at full speed now. I try to find my happy place; maybe the beach or even the school cafeteria, laughing with my friends. I think that maybe I won't feel as much pain this way. Maybe it would be a quicker death. But I can't help it; I look up again to see the tiger just yards away now. I grind my teeth as he runs right up to me, doesn't slow down, and then runs past me! I instantly look behind me to see, under a tree, a small piece of tattered cloth with something under it; a deer, a fox maybe? I do a double take with my eyes and come to the startling conclusion to what it _really _was, a boy! Without anything but an impulse and my own adrenaline, I beat the tiger to the boy, scoop him up in my arms, and run for both of our lives.

We sat there on the beach for what felt like an eternity before either of us said one word. "My name is Xavier and I am so sorry." He said finally in a small voice. "I was just trying to lure the tiger away from you by doing my bird calls, but then I fell out of the tree and…give me a break I'm only six ok!" There were so many things I wanted to say to him, so many questions to ask, but all I could do was stare into his crystal blue eyes. I knew then that we _had_ to get off of this island; not just for my sake, but for his as well.


	3. Rising Apprehension

We stayed on the beach all day, exchanging very few words. It was around midnight when Xavier got up and disappeared into the vegetation. For the short time that I had known him, even though I really didn't know him at all, I had felt very protective of him, like he was my little brother, so I followed him. "Xavier? Xavier, where'd you go?" I called timidly. Then, there he was, just walking past me like I wasn't even there, carrying two small yellow-brown rocks. "I was just going to start a fire, is that ok?" he asked. "Um, do you know how?" I asked stupidly. Of course he knew how to build a fire. How else would he have survived all by himself in the wilderness? Now, looking at him fully, even though he was nowhere close to being husky, he really wasn't very skinny at all; he probably hunted and fished every day that he had been here. I wanted to ask him so badly what his story was. How was it that a six year old boy was so alone, but didn't seem at all to have abandonment problems or depression like I would have? But, I still couldn't bring myself to ask that personal of questions just yet. The answer must be painful for him and, even though he seemed relatively happy, he _did_ keep to himself. I looked and saw that he had the fire already roaring while I was there daydreaming. "How did you learn to do that?" I ask, hoping the question was safe. " I don't remember ever _not_ being able to do it. I guess it's just my natural spunk-a-tude!" he said with a wicked grin. I just smiled and ruffled his hair. "Do you want something to eat?"He asked casually as he fanned the fire with a leaf nearly bigger than himself. "Like what? You wouldn't happen to have pork tenderloin in a delicate honey glaze with roasted scallops and fresh parsley on the side, would you?" I asked playfully. He stared at me disapprovingly for a dramatic minute as he threw in the occasional raised eye brows or exaggerated eye roll. "…ok I have no idea what one word that you said means, but I'll see what I do." He said in an overly-exasperated tone as he trudged back into the vegetation.

By the way he had acted, I figured that he would bring back live worms or tree bark, but I was pleasantly surprised. Xavier came trotting back about five minutes later with an armful of bananas, coconuts, strawberries and, what surprised me the most, bottled water. "How did you…Where did you…bottled water?"I stammered, trying to collect my thoughts. "Well you didn't think that I'd be drinking ocean water or waste time on a purification system did you? Oh, and about the fruit, well let's just say I know what I'm doing, most of the time at least." He seemed to be remembering the whole falling –out –of –a –tree –trying –to –save –my –life –but – actually –putting –both –of –our –lives –in –peril mishap. "Well, it looks great so let's eat!" I say, trying to take his mind off of the incident. Xavier took the first banana. Then, he rose the banana over his head, threw it, and it hits me in the stomach. "Hey! What's your problem?" I yelled, annoyed, as I throw the banana back at him, hitting his knee. "The first shot has been returned!" he screams wildly. He grabbed about five more bananas from the pile and started flinging them toward me, but I duck this time. Without really knowing what was going on, I automatically grab a few bananas for myself and throw them in his direction.

"Ok, ok I surrender!" I say, out of breath after a few minutes of banana sparring. "Ok, now why did we just do that?" I ask, looking at the all the smashed bananas on the ground. "Because it's fun, why else?" he said. "Didn't you think it was fun?" "Sure, _I _thoughtit wasfun, but you seemed so mellow before you started pelting bananas at me. You just caught me off guard." I said, laughing.

Both of us sat down on the beach, still hungry, but too exhausted to touch the items remaining on the pile. I watched the stars with him and he, after about half an hour, laid his head on my shoulder and fell asleep. As I listened to his gentle breathing and watched the stars reflected in the crystal blue water; I couldn't think of another moment when I had felt more peaceful.

I could hear someone screaming. It was hard to make out the words, but it sounded like my name being called. All that I can see around me is water and, myself. There was a lot of blood around my body and I looked dead. An empty life boat floated toward me, but I could still hear the voice, my dad maybe? "Christi? Christi! HANG ON, I NEED YOU! WAKE UP!" My eyes fly open to see Xavier violently shaking my shoulders and looking frantic; I couldn't tell if he was crying or just sweating really hard, but something was very wrong. As he sees me waking up, he immediately flings his arms around me and I know now that he _is_ crying. "Xavier!" I scream, my voice shaking. "What's wrong?" " It's, its, you just have to come with me, help me…" his voice trailing off. He was practically hyperventilating. " Ok, I'll come with you, but where are we…?" Before I can finish my thought, Xavier grabs my arm with awesome force that I didn't think was possible to be in a six year old, but from the way that he was acting, it was probably pure adrenaline.

About fifteen minutes later we arrived at a rocky outcrop, not terribly far from the cave where the tiger lived, which made me nervous. Under a thick layer of bushes was a tiny hut with a thatched roof, but not much else. Xavier stopped dead but didn't release my hand and he seemed to still be fighting back tears. Before I could do or say anything, He started wailing out loud and hugged me tight around my waist. I grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "Why did you bring me here? What's going on?" I ask sternly but, trying not to upset him anymore. "It's…", he pulls back the thick, low branches of a tree on the far wall to unveil something truly shocking, a man, no a teenager no older than me, covered from head to toe in blood.


End file.
